


Take This Longing

by Longpig



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Feelings, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Mysticism, Sexual Content, but classy, hope y'all like semicolons, rift sex, so many feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 11:57:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15242898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Longpig/pseuds/Longpig
Summary: Quintessence reveals.





	Take This Longing

The rift is luminous, beautiful. Orbs like incandescent pearls float around the ship and, unfettered by the laws of physics, move freely through the hull, drifting in and out of the cockpit. Suspended in the measureless space between realities, it would be logical to feel small and insignificant; but instead Allura’s consciousness expands beyond the bounds of normal perception, in tune with the infinite.  _ Quintessence. _ The stuff of life. The ineffable essence that emanates through and animates the entire universe, from the smallest microbe, to the beating heart of a planet. The light in everything, the light that  _ is _ everything. The experience echoes Oriande. Concepts that seemed impossible, too immense for the finite space inside her mind, now are made clear. Secrets revealed, within and without.

“I can feel the quintessence coursing through me,” Lotor exclaims; but it’s so much more than that.

“It’s like my spirit, my whole being is more alive,” she affirms. It’s more than that, too. She feels the connection between herself and the infinite emanation of quintessence through the universe; but the most immediate, the most  _ emergent _ , is her connection to Lotor.

It’s been over a phoeb since Oriande; closer to two since Lotor defeated his father and set them on the path they now walk. Allura can still see him sitting on the steps to the bridge, leaning forward over his knees with his hands clasped together, his eyes clouded and distant. The first time she saw him as a person, instead of simply Zarkon’s son. Instead of an enemy. That first allowance left space for curiosity, interest, and then attraction. Now it’s something more. Lotor is gentle, brilliant, earnest; nothing like what she expected. He understands her sorrows in a way few can. He is her solace and her hope; and in that hope she dares to  _ feel _ again, in ways she thought forever closed. She thrills at his touch on her hand or the small of her back as they work together; the smell of his hair when he leans over her to look at the screen. When he talks about a royal alliance, she’s filled with a giddy warmth that has little to do with political advantage or galactic stability. She’s wondered if he feels the same. Now, she is certain. No more dancing around this connection between them, no more waiting hopefully for a kiss only to be rudely interrupted...

She’s pulled toward him along a golden thread, and it’s as inevitable as sunrise. She doesn’t know when she left her seat, or when she removed her helmet. She rests a hand on his shoulder and he startles, looking up with a question in his eyes. Her skin crackles with electricity; it’s not only her spirit that’s been awakened. Something long-ignored, but familiar, flutters in her belly.

“Do you feel it?” she breathes. Her hand slides up toward his collar.

“The quintessence?” he asks, slowly. His gaze flicks over her, the barest hint of a crease between his brows.

Allura smiles, with a minute shake of her head. “That is not what I mean.”

Lotor’s eyes narrow, then widen as her hands reach the clasps at his throat and break the seal between his suit and helmet. His mouth falls open; he does not make any attempt to stop her as she lifts it away. His snow white hair falls around his shoulders, haloed by the radiant energy around them. “Yes,” he breathes, a ragged whisper of understanding. “Yes, I do.” He’s on his feet now, towering over her, filling her field of view. His hand curls around hers; he holds it against his chest, pulling her close. With the other he brushes his knuckles along the line of her jaw, and tips her chin gently upward. His eyes, lambent blue, flicker with reflections of the quintessence orbs as he leans in. Allura closes her own as their lips meet, and her breath catches on his.

There’s a muted but still absurd click as their armor makes contact. Their spirits are intertwined, quintessence flowing between and through them; that this thin physical barrier should separate them is ludicrous.

“Take off your gloves,” she instructs.  _ First, _ she leaves unspoken. Without question, he obeys. He twists off one vambrace, then the other; peels his hands bare. She does the same, and reaches for him eagerly, aching with the need to  _ feel _ . His hair is like silk; his skin velvet. His mouth claims her once more; or perhaps it is she who conquers. Allura hardly knows; it hardly matters. When his lips find her throat, she is uncertain whether her throat has given or received the kiss. She pulls him closer, and feels his embrace tighten around her.

“The quintessence… It must be clouding our judgement,” he breathes against her neck; but he doesn’t stop her as she unfastens his armor, and doesn’t stop himself from disengaging hers.

“No,” she sighs. Quintessence heightens emotion, reveals, distills it; but it does not fabricate it. “My head is clear, and my feelings are my own.” There’s a blaze of light between them. She presses herself against his arousal, and feels her own build. The rest of their armor soon falls away, then the garments beneath. Long lilac fingers tangle in her coiffure until her silvery locks fall from their careful arrangement and cascade down her naked back.

Lotor worships her with his hands, his mouth; and Allura returns his reverence in kind. His lips set her ablaze; she feels him burn for her. Here in the space at the end of all realities, Allura’s universe collapses into just the two of them. The taste of his mouth with her own flavors still on his lips; his heart thundering against her chest; the sweat-slicked slide of flesh on flesh. They are  _ meant _ to be together; meant to fit together like this.

Stars collide behind her eyelids, beautiful delirious explosions that echo her body’s own reaction. She speaks the words and hears them in his voice;  _ I love you, I love you. _

A muted chime from Lotor’s console indicates that the sample collection is complete. It’s ignored.

Later, he helps her down from their ship, catching her when she stumbles, her legs still quivering beneath her. His hand closes over hers and clasps it over his heart. He’s nervous; though he keeps his features schooled, his claws are extended and Allura feels the tempo of his pulse even through his armor.

“We accomplished something amazing today; and it would have never happened had it not been for you.” He’s formal with her now, almost shy, afraid that after all it was only the rift that made her desire him. He’s giving her the opportunity to pretend it never happened.

Allura smiles a reassurance. Though the perfect clarity she experienced in the quintessence field is fading, she knows what she felt. She trusts it. “It is a moment that I truly will never forget,” she promises, a flush upon her cheeks.

The tension around his eyes eases, hesitation supplanted by relief. His eyelids flutter closed as he leans to kiss her, his lips soft and full of wanting. Allura wants as well, but she knows the others will be expecting them on the bridge now that they’ve returned. With a quiet sigh, she draws back. She  _ is _ eager to share their success with the Paladins, even if she wishes she could prolong this moment with Lotor; but there will surely be other moments.

They have all the time in the universe.

**Author's Note:**

> This piece was inspired by the poem [_You Have the Lovers_](http://similarlyrics.com/leonard-cohen/other/you-have-the-lovers), by Leonard Cohen.
> 
> If you liked this piece, come flail with me on [tumblr!](http://lotors-saltwife.tumblr.com)


End file.
